women in IT roundtable 51
is to ensure they have the right support around them; to be clear about what they want to achieve; and not to constantly seek approval.
“It is not about having the best degree or top marks, it is about them as individuals and how they stand out in the interview process. Male or female, it is about having confidence – a lot of people think they can go into sales but a lot of them can‘t. The best piece of advice I can give someone is to find something that is ‘their thing‘.“
Dr Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj highlighted research from the Harvard Business Review, which showed that while having children had no impact on the career progression of MBA graduates, women with children were not being given the bigger “stretch“ roles that went instead to men, enabling them to be better prepared for promotion.
Jacquie Rees
for a company which encourages flexible working, but I have friends who don‘t.“
The point was also made however, that there can be times when it is the man who has to stay behind to look after a sick child.
The comments led Edmunds to ask why, if cultural barriers aren‘t holding back progression, more women aren‘t being attracted into technology sales?
What motivated you in your career choice?
Natalie Lamb
Jacquie Rees said it was true that a woman with a sick child can be seen as a liability and questioned what a mother would do if they had a business trip lined up to the US and was unable to travel.
That had been exactly the issue faced by single parent Louise Delahoussaye, who said although she had been able to get cover, her manager had been very understanding about the possible need to cancel her trip, saying that her priority must be her family. She said that the ability to work from home had been one of the key criteria for choosing to work for VMWare.
Rees described the moment she returned to work after having her child as “totally liberating“. “I had no intention of going back to work but having someone call me and say ‘we want you to come back and work for us‘ was brilliant. I remember on my first day back thinking ‘I am not a mother any more‘.“
Lamb believes it can come down to the type of industry: “In some very male- dominated sectors there is the legacy of stereotyping, but in technology businesses thinking is more advanced in terms of the ability to work from home and do flexible working. I work
Braithwaite spoke of how she was drawn into technology by an advert specifically aimed at female graduates but, despite that, she was the only girl in her region and the men working with her had said she “wouldn‘t last three months“ – something that made her only more determined to succeed.
Holly Hamilton said when she left university, her father kept asking her why she wanted to work in sales. His view was that sales people “weren‘t very nice“ because they only focused on sealing the best price and told her it “wasn‘t her“.
“It was only when he got to understand and see how you can sell technology in a different way that he finally understood,“ she said, adding that when she was at school, no-one had ever suggested that she went into a career in sales.
Victoria McQuade questioned whether the fact that today‘s generation of children and young adults is more tech savvy means they will be more likely to go into a technology career.
Delahoussaye applauded ventures such as Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, which she said encouraged younger women to start thinking about technology careers early on.
Hitachi Consulting‘s Claire Thomas shared an initiative it is developing to support and encourage more women to consider a career in technology. Its STEM initiative aims to encourage girls and young women to embark on careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. As part of the programme,
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2015 Rebecca Sewell
difference meant women with the additional responsibilities of childcare stayed in jobs longer because they offered more security, flexibility and the ability to manage their lives better, as opposed to simply asking for a higher salary in the way that men would.
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www.businessmag.co.uk
employees will have the opportunity to work at local schools and careers fairs, raising awareness of the skills and qualities needed for STEM roles at Hitachi and to help students identify the types of skills/qualities they have developed themselves.
In preparation for the roundtable, participants had watched a short video showing how, in the US, a female member of staff discovered she was earning only 78% of the salary enjoyed by her male counterpart. As a result, she only completed 78% of her day-to-day activities. Dr Janjuha-Jivraj asked for their first impressions.
Rees‘ reaction was one of surprise, saying that working in a close team you tend to know what people are earning and she had never come across a similar situation.
Countering that argument was Delahoussaye, who said she had been convinced that she had been the lowest paid person in her team when, during nine years with a company, she had a minimum pay rise year-on-year. “I was told the only way to get a substantial pay rise was to leave or threaten to leave.“
According to Lamb, the fact that there are a high number of acquisitions in the technology industry makes it a challenge to ensure wage parity when new employees come on board from other companies.
Dr Janjuha-Jivraj asked if the gender
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